Former Manchester City and Arsenal defender Bacary Sagna believes that Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag may have had good reason to drop Raphael Varane for the Manchester derby.
Ten Hag oversaw a 3-0 home defeat against the current champions and crosstown rivals.
One aspect of criticism levelled at him came about as he started with Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire in central defence, at the expense of Varane.
The Frenchman has come in for criticism of late, and has not always been fit since his arrival at Old Trafford.
Speaking to Genting Casino , Sagna suggested Ten Hag may know more about the situation than outside observers.
He explained: “Ten Hag spends more time with the players than anyone else. He sees them on a daily basis, so he will have a reason for not starting Raphael Varane against City.
“Only Erik ten Hag knows why he made that decision. Maybe it was on the fitness of the player, or it could have been a tactical decision. Varane is an amazing player but since he has been at United injuries have stopped him being at his very best, but he remains an important player when he does play, so I don’t think he didn’t play based on his performances.
“There are always reasons why certain players do not start games. He didn’t put Varane on the bench to lose the game.”
He added: “Football isn’t rocket science. Sometimes managers make decisions that go against them. It doesn’t make Erik ten Hag a bad coach, but he has to take the responsibility for the decisions that he makes. When he decided not to play Varane, he would have been advised by his coaching team, his fitness coach.
"Ultimately, he will have made the final decision, but it would have been a (coaching) team decision. He hasn’t become a bad coach because he got one decision wrong or Manchester United lost this game. That isn’t fair on Erik ten Hag.”